Monday, March 31, 2014

1PanelReview Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

Once, they made history.

Now, they are history!

What it is: Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

Which is: A fantasy/comedy film

Directed by:Peter Hewitt Year: 1991

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey is the 1991 sequel to the 1989 cult classic film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. This time the film almost completely ditches the time travel gimmick and scifi-angle for a more fantasy tone and a story revolving around Death itself. The film was apparently known as "Bill & Ted Go To Hell " during production. Bogus Journey was directed by Peter Hewitt and stars againAlex Winter as Bill and Keanu Reeves as Ted. This time our slacker heroes find themselves against the Grim Reaper himself (William Sadler) as their friend Rufus (George Carlin) tries to save them from the other side...

What's Good about it: Bill and Ted are dead. But don't worry about it! They still can find their way back if they are able to defeat Death itself! Then, the movie really begins...! Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey is one of THE most epic and surprisingly original sequels out there.Last time we left our heroes they were set on their path to become the greatest rock starts that would rock our world for generations... but someone from the future with bad intentions wants to prevent world peace. He sends some evil robot impersonators back in time after our heroes to kill them and take their place...Our hilarious dumb metalhead heroes will now have to find their way back, all across Hell and Heaven! How will they cheat death...?The answer is... literally! Defeat the Grim Reaper in a series of games!Genius!And all that in the name of Rock 'n' Roll, and all things bodacious!How can you not enjoy a movie which only message is "to be excellent to each other"??George Carlin was also back, and he's such a fun memorable character in these films. He truly makes every scene he appears in.After the huge surprising hit the original was at the box office, there weren't actually any plans for an proper sequel... And since most of the cast and the original creators were able to come back and asked for a follow-up, they simply decided to throw all conventional sequels ideas out the window. And go all out for it and improvise an all-new crazy follow-up as original as the first film instead. Simply redoing the first round wouldn't have been fun, in my eyes.Bogus Journey has no problem throwing as many crazy ideas around and amp up the plot every scene.There's a lot to enjoy in this sequel, from simple parody of classic films to obscure references.Bogus Journey features plenty of mischief and drops (for the most part) the entire time travel gimmick for the ultimate plot driven idea... Death itself! The film doesn't shy away from some dark humor here and there and employs some clever references thrown in there for good measure.It's just a much more ambitious film.The quick pacing and mayhem on screen certainly helps it shake things up for our slacker buddy heroes.Bogus Journey also features a kickass soundtrack from the time, with the likes of Megadeth and Kiss. Finally the film ends on the much promised Battle of the Bands showdown. Will the "Wyld Stallyns" bring in a new age for mankind?!

What's Bad about it: Really? You're asking me this?That's totally bogus! If you can't enjoy this masterpiece, you can return to your Transformers, Twilights or whatever kids think is cool these days...

Overall: A highly recommended timeless classic!Hilarious and very original. The film rocked summer 1991 and is still highly enjoyable to this day.

A final third film was rumored for years, first expected for 1996... and now to this day still in development hell. A script was apparently completed and up in the air waiting to be greenlight since at least 2010 nowadays, aimed for either this year originally or even 2015... But I haven't heard much from it anymore...

The film series was followed by not only one, but two TV series spin-offs. First an animated series by Hanna-Barbera in 1990-91 featuring the voices of the original cast reprising their respective roles the first season but replaced in the 2nd one.

Then a live action TV series followed also featuring the cast of the second animated series on Fox in 1992, but it only lasted for a short few episodes.

An excellent comic book series at Marvel Comics was also produced, well remembered by fans for Evan Dorkin's plot and artwork.

We also got a fair share of handful video games, all as bad as the next one. But the less said about those, the better...